Chef Nigella Lawson accused of drug abuse

Thursday

Nov 28, 2013 at 12:01 AMNov 28, 2013 at 12:10 PM

With things getting hot in her kitchen again, Nigella Lawson has thanked her supporters the way she knows best: by tweeting a recipe for holiday hot cakes. The 53-year-old chef - who during the summer made headlines after husband Charles Saatchi was seen with his hands around her neck - is facing allegations that she used cocaine, marijuana and prescription pills every day for 10 years. Former assistants Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo made the claims this week during their trial on charges of stealing $480,000 from Saatchi and Lawson. The sisters' defense: Lawson authorized the use of Saatchi's credit cards in exchange for their silence about her drug habits. Lawson's legal team dismissed the drug-related allegations as "totally scurrilous." The claims, though, might cost Lawson her job as a judge on the cooking competition The Taste, sources told the Daily News of New York. ABC executives are reportedly deciding whether to invite her back for the third season. The second season is to premiere on Jan. 2.

With things getting hot in her kitchen again, Nigella Lawson has thanked her supporters the way she knows best: by tweeting a recipe for holiday hot cakes. The 53-year-old chef — who during the summer made headlines after husband Charles Saatchi was seen with his hands around her neck — is facing allegations that she used cocaine, marijuana and prescription pills every day for 10 years. Former assistants Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo made the claims this week during their trial on charges of stealing $480,000 from Saatchi and Lawson. The sisters’ defense: Lawson authorized the use of Saatchi’s credit cards in exchange for their silence about her drug habits. Lawson’s legal team dismissed the drug-related allegations as “totally scurrilous.” The claims, though, might cost Lawson her job as a judge on the cooking competition The Taste, sources told the Daily News of New York. ABC executives are reportedly deciding whether to invite her back for the third season. The second season is to premiere on Jan. 2.

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